Process of extracting sucrose from sugar-cane.



HUBERT EDSON, 0F ENSENADA,PORTO RICO, ASSIGNQR TQGUANICA CENTRALE, OF.

' JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY,& CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

} PROCESS OF EXTRACTING SUCROSE FROM SUGAR-CANE.

1,068,748. No Drawing.

Application filed May 15, 1911. Serial No. 627,156.

Specification-of Letters rate-ant.

Patented July 2a, 1913.

application is an improvement in processes.

for extracting sucrose from sugar cane, and is primarily designed for the treatment of cane, although applicable to such other materials as ma possess similar properties and be susoeptihe of 'responding to the same process.

Underthe conditions heretofore obtainllig in this industry, the active operations 0 raw sugar factories or mills are practicallyconfined t o'the season during which the cutting of the cane is feasible, from which it results that such mills, so far as r "the grinding of cane isconcerned, are partly or entircl idle for perhaps one half of each yeaiynvh'ilh their capacity; may he overtaxed during the other.

The primary object of my present invention'is to obviate this objection by making proper provision for lhe continued opcra tion of raw sugar factories, and thereby not only to distribute the Work more uniformly throughout the year, but to very materially increase the efficiency and capacity of exist ing plants,

The improvements I have made secure other and important incidental advantages, some obviously resulting from the novel procedure which I have devised, and others which I have discovered to result from the processes adopted by me in carrying out the objects in view. The following statement of the processes heretofore followed and of the novel steps introduced by me will serve to convey a clear understanding of the nature and-purposes of my invention and the advantages secured thereby. The plan generally followed in the traction of the juice from cane, is to ex press the juice by passing the cane through a series of rollers in tandem. Another ,method frequently practised is by the socalled diffusion process; while still another involves a combination of the two processes of milling and diffusion. In allcases, how

ever, the extraction of the juice or recovery of sucrose from the cane is carried out as completely as considerations of economy and eificiency'pernlit, by what may be regarded as a single or continuous process, and the bagasse used for fuel or converted to other uses not directly concerned with the produc tion of sugar. According to my invention, however, I extract, by the use of shredders or crushcrs and mills, a certain percentage only of the juice usually recovered from the cane, thus reducing the amount of liquid in the cane to approximately fifty per cent. of the original amount by weight.- The juice expressed orrccovcrcd is then treated according to present or any approved methods for the recovery tlwrefrom of crystallized sugar. The cane residue passing from the mills and containing the residual sugar is then subjected to a preservative process, preferably and chiefly by drying, and suitably treatcd to permit its being conveniently handled. stored and indefinitely preserved. Preferably, it is dried and baled or compressed, in which .form it is most economically stored until such time, after the canecutting season, as it .may be conveniently treated for the extraction of the remaining sugar either by the milling or by the diffusion process. 1

It is well known that cane, after a large percentage of the liquid constituents have been eliminated in this way becomes so friable that it may be reduced, with little difficulty, to a coarse powder. It is also known that drying under known temperatures results in the coagulation stale albuminoids in the cane, which renders them, as well-as certain waxy, gummy and coloring matters more or less insoluble, particularly in coldwater, and allowsthe sucrose to crystallize, in which state it is readily soluble even in cold water. It will, therefore, be seen that the cane residue, after being dried, as above described, is not only in condition to be baled, transported. and stored for an indefinite period without deterioration, but is actually in a. very desirable condition for treatment by either the milling or diffusion process at any time between the cane cutting seasons, when thocapacity of the factories is not so severely taxed.

If desired, the cane residue, either before or aftei drying may be reduced to any degree ofcomminution by machinery suitable and well known for such purpose. Al.- though such treatment may not be desirable, except when the dried residue is to be subjected to the diiiusion process.

It is obvious that when only fifty or sixty per cent. of the juice is primarily extracted from the cane a larger quantity can be put through mills of a given capacity, perhaps double the amount that could be passed through the mills in the same time when the extraction of the whole proportion of availthe first step of the process, is in a higherstate of purity, and in a more concentrated and the juice extracted from the cane resi-' drying the residue.

form, than where the entire quantity of the juices is extracted from the cane in the usual milling process. The purity results from the fact that a very large proportion of the albuminoids and associated impurities remains in the cane residue; it is more concentrated because no water has been added, as is usually done in roller presses, to facilitate the extraction of the sucrose in the juice. As

- stated above, the drying of the partially expressed cane, because 1"" the coa ulation of the albuminoids and solidification of the gummy and waxy matters, decreases the solvent effect of water for these substances. It will, therefore, be observed that the defecation and subsequent treatment of the juices are quite simplified, both with respect to the juice expressed in the first step of the process It will be seen from the above that the process of evaporation ofpanc juice may, y this means, he continued throughout the year on an eflicient and economical scale. This results largely from the fact that about fifty to sixty per cent. of the total amount of juice in the cane is extracted in the first, and the equivalent of the remainder, in water and sucrose, in the last step of the process. ;It is'to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to the extraction of this precise proportion of the total amount of juice from the came before This specified propor tion of extraction is pz'cfcruliile because it is found that the evaporating apparatus, when double the amount of cone is passed. through the present mills, can readily take care of this quantity oi juice. it will be evident, however, that more or less of the juice can be extracted atthls stage of process, without departing from the spu'itii of the invention. a

It may be stated that it is old in the-'ai-ti' to shred or slice cane,. as well as beet, preparatory to extracting the sucrosa therefrom. This is invariably done in factories in which the diffusion process practised. It has also been pro used to"'*"' shred or slice both cane and sugar eets and dry the same before subjecting-them to the processes for recovcrin the sucrose, and it has also been propose to subject bagas'se 30 containing a certain proportion of sucrose to special and further treatment for the recovery of this sucrose from thesame. My 1 process, however, diifers from all'or any combination of these processes and is dis- 3; tinctive in that about one-half of the juice is extracted from the cane in the first step and immediately treated, while the cane residue is then dried, and baled, stored or otherwise preserved in convenient form. he subsequently treated for the extraction of the remaining sucrose therefrom. process, so far as I am aware, is distinctly new and results in great economy. Anim portant advantage results also from primarily expressin a substantial proportion of the juice and tdien drying the cane, inasmuch as the moisture expressed from the cane doesnot have to be eliminated in the dryingprocessfor the preservation of the cane residuez Moreover, as explained above, a larger total percentage of sucrose can be obtained from the cane by this process. Where about ninety five. per cent.only'could be obtained heretofore by the milling process, an additional two per cent. or more may be recovered by my improved process, particularly so'when the cane residue is subjected to the diffusion process. After the uioehas been partially extracted from the canein this process, the cane residue, before being dried, may be treated with a dis infecting or preserving agent to preventfermentation, and any deterioration or harmful chemical decomposition of the ma terml. For this purpose formaldehyde in solution or similar matcrial that does not afiect or impair the quality of the sucrose may employed. The final residue of the. cane may be used for fuel, or material for" paper pulp, or any other known purpose.

What I claim is:

1. The herein described process of ex-- tracting sucrose from sugarcane, which consists in partially extractin the juice 1% from the cane, drying and treating the cane 4 residue with a preservative; and subse l. quently extracting the remainder of the S12 crose from the cane residue.

2. The herein described process ior treating sucrose from sugar cane, which con- In testimony whereof I aifix my signature sists in partially extracting the juice from in the presence bf two subscribing wit-' the cane, then treating the cane residue with messes. i

a preservative, then drying and baling the 5 same, and, subsequently extracting the refinainder of the sucrose from the cane resiue.

. HUBERT EDSON.

Witnesses EUGENE CONGLETON, GUY H, LIPPITT. 

